1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to reflector antennas. More particularly, the invention relates to a segmented reflector antenna with a shield incorporated with peripheral segments of the reflector dish.
2. Description of Related Art
Reflector Antennas utilize a reflector to concentrate signals upon a subreflector and/or feed assembly. A large reflector concentrates weak signals, enabling low power, high bandwidth signal communications.
Large reflectors may be formed from a plurality of segments that are interconnected to form the desired reflector surface. Although smaller reflector segments improve the portability of the resulting antenna, each additional segment interconnection introduces the opportunity for shape errors in the assembled reflector due to cumulative misalignment and/or warping of the individual segments.
A shield extending forward of the reflector dish may be applied to improve the antenna signal pattern and/or provide an enclosure for environmental protection of a portion of the subreflector and/or feed assembly which also extends forward of the reflector dish.
A shield adds to the weight, wind load and manufacture/assembly complexity of the resulting reflector antenna assembly.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus that overcomes deficiencies in the prior art.